October Notebook - The Witchy Issue

Pumpkins, fairy circles and a truly bizarre story

Oct 01, 2023

Hello!

Welcome to spooky season.

No month is more full of magic and mystery than October. It’s a season of woodsmoke, folk tales, superstitions and, of course, amazing colour.

The woods are beautiful this month, full of golden colours, earthy mushrooms, shiny berries and crunchy leaves underfoot, plus it’s also Apple season and Pumpkin season.

But there’s always an undercurrent of something darker swirling around at this time of year. As the nights draw in and the weather cools, strange folktales and mysterious stories rise to the surface in the run-up to the spookiest festival of the year; Halloween. And have I got a weird story for you at the end of this newsletter…

Who’s ready to jump into October with me? We’ll start with some of the best things about this month, then move on to some of the most seasonal things to see and do, followed by a wonderfully bizarre piece of October folklore.

This is a bumper edition, packed with good stuff in honour of my absolute favourite month, so I really hope you enjoy it. Let’s go.

mug of coffee with marshmallow in front of open book on tray — Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

Things to Love about October:

Witchy season

Have you been waiting for witchy season to begin? If so, your wait is over; the season of magic and mystery is here. As the build up to Halloween begins, permission is granted to drink pumpkin-spiced everything, deck your house out in autumn colours, carve spooky pumpkins and light candles at dusk.

I’ll be doing a deep dive into the pagan origins of our modern day Halloween celebrations (also known at the Witches New Year) ready for the big day on the 31st, so make sure you’re subscribed if you like the sound of that.

Pumpkin season

Talking of pumpkins, October, of course, marks the start of pumpkin season so I’ll be sending out a dedicated Pumpkin Season newsletter next week, stuffed with recipes, folklore and activities. I’m very much looking forward to this one. If you want to take a wander through the pumpkin patch with me later this month, subscribe now to get your free copy.

That particular Autumn Smell

Ask anyone what they love most about this time of year and the chances are it’ll be a smell. This time of year is characterised by warm, cosy baking scents of pumpkin, apple and cinnamon.

But there’s something else isn’t there? There’s that sweet, smoky, slightly sharp smell that you notice outdoors, particularly in woods and orchards at this time of year. It’s a bit like leaf mulch, a bit like over-ripe apples, a bit like woodsmoke… It’s actually really hard to pin down.

While I was searching (and failing) for the right words to describe it I typed ‘what does October smell like’ into google and I was amazed at the number of people that had clearly typed the same thing in. The results were brilliant. I encourage you to do the same if you want to feel connected to humanity at this time of year. There are lots of articles trying to answer this question, but this one summed it up the best for me: Why do we love the way autumn smells? It’s not about pumpkin spice. Their conclusion? “That brisk, crisp, slightly sharp scent we associate with the fall is the smell of leaves, trees, and plants decaying through the season.”

So what we are actually smelling right now is the leaves, trees and plants dying. Which is both romantic and poetic but also a bit dark and spooky, which is October all over.

And why do we get so obsessed with the way things smell at this time of year? Apparently scent is particularly noticeable right now because of the drop in air temperature and humidity, (as opposed to the heat of summer which can overpower our sense of smell, and the chill of winter which deadens certain smells.) So, now we know!

Morning Mists and Golden Light

While September brought us deep blue skies, October brings us misty mornings and low, golden light, and of course, amazing red, yellows and oranges. On a good day - one of those crisp, sunny ones where the morning mist burns away to reveal sunshine - there’s no better place than outside, wrapped up warm, kicking your way though leaves and soaking up all those amazing golden colours and fresh, cool air.

orange pumpkins under white sky at daytime — Photo by Maddy Baker on Unsplash

Feeling suitably October-y yet? I hope so. Right, here’s your list of things to do, see and eat this month:

1. Visit a pumpkin patch

You could buy your pumpkin from a supermarket, but visiting a pumpkin patch to pick your own is so much more fun. As well as choosing your pumpkin you can also take autumnal photos, drink pumpkin-spiced everything and generally play at at all things Autumn.

My local ‘pick your own’ farm has just switched over from Dahlias to pumpkins, so I’ll be headed straight there this weekend. In fact, my son has already requested that we go ‘lots of times’ so we might end up a little pumpkin-heavy in my house this year, because who am I to turn down a request like that?! I’m raising the next generation of Autumn-lovers over here.

Here's a list of farms that have pumpkin patches in the UK. Fingers crossed there’s one near you.

2. Go on an Autumn-colour walk

Walking in the woods is obligatory this month. The colours of the leaves, the abundance of berries and nuts, the mushroomy, earthy smell, the crunchiness underfoot…

I always think National Trust properties come into their own at this time of year. Perfectly maintained woods and gardens, excellent cake and coffee, good activities for kids and usually a really good gift shop as a reward at the end of the walk. (If I’m showing my age here, I don’t care! I’ve entered the jam and scones stage of life and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.)

red mushrooms — Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash

3. Look for fairy circles

October is mushroom season in the woods and I have mixed feelings about this. They are such a strange mix of earthy and otherworldly, and while I appreciate their Autumnal beauty I also have a high level of respect for the whiff of magic and danger they also carry with them.

And nothing is more magical, mystical - and spooky - than a fairy circle. If you’ve never seen one, this is a perfect ring of mushrooms that can appear sometimes overnight, on a lawn, or forest floor. These days we know more about how they are formed, but can you imagine how weird and spooky they must have been a few centuries ago, when they just appeared overnight with no warning or explanation?!

Unsurprisingly, lots of superstitions, fairy tales and folklore developed around these fairy rings. Most stories and folk tales involving warnings to never step inside, never break the circle, and never to walk widdershins around one.

But they are undeniably magical, so as long as you have your wits about you when you find one, looking for fairy circles is a great October activity. Just don’t pick them!

4. Moon bathe under the Hunters Moon

The Hunters Moon or the Blood Moon is the name given to this month’s full moon and this year it falls on the 28th October, so make sure to keep your eyes open for it. Like the Harvest Moon last month, the Hunters Moon is so named as it gave our ancestors extra hours of light after sunset - this time for hunting rather than harvesting. If you’re interested in the concept of Lunar Living, take a look at this post to find out more.

5. Celebrate Halloween

The celebration that defines this month for many of us, Halloween, is celebrated on the 31st October and there is so much to say about this spooky festival. I love looking back to the ancient Celtic and Nordic festivals that shaped our modern day celebrations and I think this is the time for embracing some of those old traditions and rituals. I will, of course, be sending out a dedicated Halloween / Samhain newsletter nearer the time, and it’s going to be a really good one, so sign up now to get that delivered straight to your inbox.

a red pick up truck filled with pumpkins — Photo by Elizabeth Villalta on Unsplash

October Folklore

With the dark half of the year on the horizon, October is awash with strange folklore tales and superstitions as well as predictions for the type of winter that might be coming.

I’ll save the Halloween folklore for the newsletter later this month, but here are a couple of pieces of October folklore and weatherlore for you to squirrel away, ready to impress, surprise or completely baffle someone at the appropriate moment.

1. Look for Swallows hibernating in ponds

By October most of the Swallows in the UK have set off on their annual migration to Africa for the winter, but up until surprisingly recently this sudden disappearance of the Swallow population had greatly puzzled scientists and philosophers, giving rise to one of my favourite pieces of folklore to date.

There were an amazing range of suggestions as to where these little birds went every October, from migrating to the Moon, to hiding in trees and caves, to hibernating at the bottom of ponds. This last theory, which sounds completely mad, quickly turned into folklore and was actually still in circulation up until the late 1700s with naturalists accepting and repeating this idea in print. This belief seemed to come from the fact that swallows could often be seen swooping over bodies of water right before their annual disappearance.

So popular was this piece of folklore that it persisted for centuries and it wasn't until the mid 1800s that scientists finally discovered that Swallows actually migrated to hotter climates for the winter, rather than hibernating in the mud at the bottom of ponds and holding their breath for six months. If you love this story as much as I do, you can read more about it here.

2. Enjoy ‘St.Luke’s Little Summer’

According to Old English weatherlore, there is often a spell of mild weather in October known as “St.Luke’s Little Summer”. This stretch of warm weather starts on the 18th October on St.Luke’s Day, and ends on the 28th October on St Judes Day which has a reputation for ending the ‘mini summer’ with a day of bad weather. Let’s test it this year shall we?

3. Predict the Winter Weather

Warm October, Cold February
Much rain in October, much wind in December
If October brings heavy frosts and winds, then will January and February be mild
For every fog in October, a snow in the Winter 1

Ok, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed your October newsletter and I hope you have a wonderful month filled with magic, mystery and Autumnal smells.

Now it’s over to you! Tell me about your favourite October traditions in the Comments below. I love how this has become a space for us all to have a nice seasonal chat once a month. I really look forward to reading all your ideas and suggestions.

Seasonal Living with Victoria Harrison

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